5 Tips for the Last Month of Marathon Preparation

The last month of preparation for a marathon is a key moment in the entire preparation to succeed in the race on D-Day. The secret to results that live up to expectations and the efforts made is to combine fitness and freshness on the day of the marathon. Fitness is the result of all the months of training that preceded this final 4-week stretch. All these week-after-week sequences of interval sessions, long sessions, recovery sessions, muscle strengthening, and flexibility have adapted and trained your body to the effort to be sustained over the duration of an entire marathon. Freshness is the optimal physical state to achieve a performance. It complements and builds on the level of physical fitness, all the in-depth work that was done during preparation. But be careful, it is a delicate balance. You must not continue to push yourself too hard to arrive tired on the big day and conversely, you must not relax or 'soften' yourself too much to lose some of the fitness level you have hard earned over the previous weeks and months.

So how do you achieve this winning cocktail of fitness and freshness over the last month? Here are 5 tips to follow for this final 4-week stretch before the marathon.

A planned reduction in training

During the last 4 weeks, you need to ensure a gradual decrease in training. The idea, however, is not to reduce both volume and intensity. You need to reduce volume gradually but keep sessions at intensity. Here are some practical tips week by week during this last month to illustrate this search for balance between fitness and freshness:

• 4 weeks before the marathon: this is the last week for a (very) long outing beyond the half-marathon, 24 to 30 kilometers for example. This is also the first week where the total hours can start to drop compared to previous weeks, by around 15 to 20% less. If the average cumulative training time in previous weeks was 5 hours for example, it is desirable to start to drop to 4h15/4h30 this week, including the last (very) long outing.
• 3 weeks before the marathon: the average training duration can still drop by 15 to 20% to get down to 3H30/3h45 to stay with our example. On the other hand, you must keep at least one, ideally two intensity sessions (short or long intervals, hills), these sessions that sting, that we all dread a little (whatever our respective level) but which continue to accustom our body to sustained efforts.
• 2 weeks before the marathon: the average training duration can still decrease by 15 to 20% to go down to 2H45/3h00, still to stay with our example. And it is necessary to keep as the previous week at least one, ideally two intensity sessions.
• Last week before the marathon: this week is even more special and crucial than the previous ones. You really have to ease off on volume. In our example, you have to stay around 2h/2h15 and include a very last session at intensity (rather at the beginning of the week). This session should not be too long, nor too demanding (for example with intervals run at the target marathon pace or slightly above).

Eat and drink healthy

It may seem obvious to eat and drink healthily for any runner, but in the last month, it becomes even more important and especially as we get closer to the D-day. Eating and drinking healthily, that is to say balanced, without excess in quantity and also limiting, ideally stopping alcohol for at least 2 to 3 weeks before the marathon, is the best way to arrive with a healthy body on race day. During a marathon, the body will produce a lot of toxins that the liver and kidneys will then have to eliminate. Don't panic, the body is programmed to eliminate all the substances created during the effort and good hydration, a healthy diet and restorative sleep will greatly help it in this task during this post-marathon recovery phase. The idea before the marathon and especially during this last month is to help it by bringing it to the starting line on D-day with as few toxins as possible already present in the body before the first stride.

Relax and put things into perspective mentally

This third piece of advice may be the hardest to follow for some of us, especially for new marathoners, but not only. The marathon is certainly a physically difficult and mentally demanding race, especially in the last third or quarter when fatigue sets in. But during the last month, it is key to put things into perspective and not give in too much to a form of anxiety or anguish before the race. In the popular imagination, the marathon is synonymous with prolonged, difficult, demanding efforts and it is true, it is a difficult race. But you have prepared for the race and the human body has this extraordinary ability to gradually adapt to sustained, repetitive efforts. So how can you relax and put things into perspective mentally? The techniques for mentally putting things into perspective during marathon preparation, especially as the deadline approaches, are the same as for managing stressful situations: breathing techniques, meditation, positive visualization, music, nature, etc. You should also avoid negative, anxiety-provoking influences. There is no need to find yourself among several 'anxious' runners and scare each other during the last few weeks. It is better to seek advice from experienced runners who have already run several marathons and who can help you put things into perspective and advise you (for example, how to mentally divide the race into several parts, how to use refreshments as mini-objectives, especially in the last third of the race, how to start counting down the last 10 or 15 kilometers to motivate yourself, etc.). Putting things into perspective mentally also means preserving your energy before the race, improving effort management on the day by staying as relaxed as possible and having fun to fully enjoy the experience of a day that will remain etched in your memory.

Prioritize recovery and sleep

During the last 4 weeks and especially during the last week, recovering well and taking care of your sleep are two key levers to arrive with the maximum freshness on D-Day. Don't worry too much if the last night before the race is a little difficult, go to bed early to rest, but it is normal to have a light sleep before the race. This remains the case even after having run dozens of marathons. However, during the days and weeks before, it is important to take care of your sleep and try to sleep between 7 and 9 hours which are the average duration of sleep necessary (apart from rare exceptions). It is important to remember that it is during sleep that the body repairs and regenerates itself. A 15 to 30 minute nap, when you have the opportunity, is also restorative and welcome. Beyond quality sleep, also take care of yourself and your body with stretching and flexibility sessions or yoga. And continue to scrupulously respect, as during your entire training phase, the recovery and rest days to avoid the accumulation of fatigue and the risk of injury that comes with it.

Do not change equipment or routine at the last minute.

There are only 4 weeks left before the race. This is no longer the time to experiment and change equipment, or nutrition or type of training sessions. The time left is too short and the risk too great that your body will not have time to adapt or worse, to see the injury arrive at the worst possible moment, just before the race. A change of shoes, a new food bar or a new gel, a different drink, this can bring new body discomfort, indigestion problems that can have an impact on performance on the day and on the experience you will have. So if you have already tested your equipment, your hydration, your nutrition at length, do not change anything in the last month. If you want to experiment with something new, do it after the marathon.

By following these 5 tips, you will be able to build on all your past efforts before tackling this crucial last month by maintaining optimal fitness and adding a dose of physical and mental freshness. It is this combination of fitness and freshness that is the best guarantee of performance and pleasure on marathon day, even if the race will remain a real challenge until the ^42nd kilometer and the famous last 195 meters to cross this beautiful finish line.

Good luck to everyone.